Wednesday, July 1, 2009

About Music - Madeleine Peuroux

Madeleine Peyroux is a jazz singer who was born in 1974 in Athens, Georgia, United States, and raised in New York City and Paris, France. Peyroux is an American of French descent; she sings on occasion in French but the majority of her songs are in English. She is noted for her vocal style, which is highly reminiscent of Billie Holiday. She also has qualities similar to Ella Fitzgerald. Though she may remind some listeners of Holiday, there are differences, and she has her own sense of phrasing and interpretation.Peyroux started singing at the age of fifteen, when she discovered street musicians in the Latin Quarter in Paris. She joined a group called the Riverboat Shufflers, first passing round the hat, and then singing.

At sixteen she joined the The Lost Wandering Blues and Jazz Band, spending two years touring Europe performing songs by the likes of Fats Waller, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, and others, which provided the basis for her first album, Dreamland.Dreamland was released in 1996, and gained widespread attention. Time called it “the most exciting, involving vocal performance by a new singer this year”. Dreamland, is a brilliant recording, as Peyroux’s distinctive voice is not hindered by overly intricate arrangements. Most of the accompaniment on the record is light and sparse, the way it should be for a singer with such a unique voice. Peyroux soon found herself opening for Sarah McLachlan and Cesária Évora, and made appearances at jazz festivals and on the Lilith Fair tour.

Her most recent solo album, a turning point in Peyroux's career, with all original tracks, Bare Bones, was released on March 10, 2009. She collaborated with songwriters Walter Becker, Joe Henry, David Batteau and Julian Coryell. The album featured a sole Peyroux-penned composition, "I Must Be Saved" and its first single was "You Can't Do Me", a song with a soul-rock beat, a whole new style for the vocalist. The album received mostly favourable reviews and the lyrics were praised. After its release, the singer went on a tour, performing not only in the US, but also in Canada, South America, Europe and Asia. Find out more at: www.madeleinepeyroux.com

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